Funeral For A Friend
"Millhouse never had an easy life. His family life was tumultuous. His parents were silently resentful to each other at best, and near the point of killing each other at worst. They divorced when he was ten. His mother left town a few months later, taking Millhouse with her. His father sued for custody, and won it. Millhouse lost his father again when he was falsely of kidnapping. He lived with his Grandmother for the next four years, until she died of a stroke. He was shuffled around the foster care system for several months, until the Simpson family managed to adopt him."
"Millhouse went on to Springfield state. He worked his way through university, and later obtained a management position at the Springfield Power Plant. He worked there for a year and a half, before he was summarily sacked. And now, five months later, here he lies."
"Millhouse was neither extraordinarily intelligent nor athletic. He was not much on looks, and had few friends. His dearest friend was, and is still, Bart Simpson. Bart always looked out for Millhouse, protected him from bullies, cheered him up when he was down. Bart was always there for his troubled friend."
"What I knew of Millhouse I learned only as one does when he enters a family and learns about the people in it. Millhouse was a part of the Simpson family, and childhood friend of the four children, beloved by the Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, and looked up to as an older brother by Maggie and Eric."
"Millhouse had a hard life. God knows this. And I'm sure that He will take that into account. Rest in Peace."
Brian went back to the pews. He tried not to look at the tear-lined faces. The sadness and guilt that gleamed in their eyes matched what he felt throbbing in his heart. He managed to hold back the tears. Years of being told that he could not cry kept the tears back. Lisa squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.
The organist began to play. The swelling, bubbling chains of notes rose like waves in Lisa's heart. Maggie's clear, celestial voice rose up.
"Ave Maria…"
Drum.
"Maiden mild…"
Drum.
"O listen to a maiden's prayer,
For thou can see the wound"
Drum.
"Tis thou, 'tis thou can save me,
In this despair."
Drum.
Bagpipes.
" O Maiden, see a maiden's sorrow!"
The blaring, rattling bagpipes blended with Maggie's voice, and overtook it. The rain fell-scant, disheartening specks, drying rds. The air was heavy, the pregnant clouds rumbling. Bart watched as they lowered the casket.
Drum.
Willie and his cousin Billy stood by the grave, in somber Scottish finery, their pipes shrieking to the wuthering skies. Ian, Willie's son, beat the drum.
Drum.
Bart approached the grave. Millhouse…down there…in the dark…Jessica threw a single rose into the grave. Marge stepped forward, and threw hers. Bart looked at his rose. Red, red like blood. Soft and dark. Fragile as innocence…innocence… He cast it down into the earth.
Slowly, the guests and mourners dispersed. The only one remaining was Lisa.
"Millhouse…forgive me. I did love you. I hope you know that. I still love you…I just…my love was never impure. You never understood that. My love was more than petty infatuation, or obsession. It was always pure, Millhouse. I never wanted you romantically, because I always thought of you as a person. I only…I wish you could have realised that."
She looked down at the black coffin, scattered with red rose. A shower of earth fell onto it. Billy had begun to bury it. The rain began to fall with great force. Lisa looked heavenwards, and sighed. She turned and went to the car, where Brian stood waiting.
We'll always have each other. That's all we can ever truly be; no one is complete in this life.
"Millhouse wanted only to be loved, Lisa, and you gave him what love you could, we all did. He failed in that he denied himself the love only he could deny, and in his failure to accept love where he could find it, rare thing it is."
"He wanted love on his own terms."
"Love is never on our terms. Love on your own terms is no love."
The mourners gathered at the Simpson's home after the funeral. Grief, and guilt, kept them isolated, even in each other's company. 'Weird Al', decided to lighten the mood with some music. He picked up his accordion, and began to play. Brian recognized the tune.
"Duh duh-duh, duh-duhduhduh dum-dum, duh duh-duh duhdum…"
"We close our eyes…" Danny Elfman half-sang, recognizing his song.
"We close our eyes and dream,
And the world has turned around again.
Lisa grabbed her saxophone. and started to play as Elfman launched into the first verse.
"When everybody is running in the big race and
Havin' a good time,
The mighty cast a shadow.
Who am I?"
Brian joined him as Steve flipped the cover off of the piano and Burke found Maggie's drum set.
"I looked Death in the face last night;
I saw him in a mirror,
And he simply smiled."
"He told me not to worry," Maggie sang.
"He told me just to take my time." They all sang. Bart and Brian grabbed their guitars, and found a few conveniently-placed 'Kontryvanz' brand amps.
"We close our eyes,
And the world had turned around again.
We close our eyes and dream,
And another year has come and gone.
We close our eyes,
And the world has turned around again,
We close our eyes and dream!"
"And if you come to me,
And if you touch my hand,
I might just slip away,
I might just dissapear.
Who am I?"
Homer found his old xylomaphone and adding a few pinging notes.
"And if you think I'm worth it,
And if you think its not too late,
We might start falling-" Brian and Danny sang.
"If we don't try too hard-!" Brian added.
"We might start falling in love!"
"We close our eyes,
And the world had turned around again.
We close our eyes and dream,
And another year has come and gone.
We close our eyes,
And the world has turned around again,
We close our eyes and dream!"
Al rose to his feet and played a solo on his accordion, then Lisa blared a solo on her sax.
"We're on the healin pa-ath…
On a roller-coaster ride, that can never turn back
And if you love me,
And if we really try,
Make the seconds count,
And we can clo-ose our eyes!"
"We close our eyes,
And the world has turned around again.
We close our eyes and dream,
And another year has come and gone.
We close our eyes close our eyes,
And the world has turned around again.
We close our eye-heyes…and the world has turned around again…"
Copyright 2005 Fionn Whelan, all rights resereved. An original fan fiction published on for artistic purpose only. All characters herein are property of their original creators, and subject to due protection under the law. Songs used herein are the property of their artists (Alice Cooper, Oingo Boingo/Danny Elfman, Elton John, Jackson Browne, Tracy Chapman, et al) used without permission. Personalities of real persons used in this work were used with utmost admiration and respect, unless they were mocked for comic or satirical reasons.